TIMARU GARDENS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 13 June 1924, Page 6

TIMARU GARDENS.

CULTIVATION OF VERONICAS

EFFORTS TO CONSERVE NATIVE

FLORA

As a result of the visit of the Curator of ihe Timaru Park, Mr D. NHarper, to Dunedin, 32 of the rarer varieties of veronica have been planted in the local botanical gardens. These plants were the gift of Messrs H. Hart and H. L. Darton, of Wetherstone’s, .Dunedin, who have for the past eight or nine years been engaged in gathering from all parts of the Dominion, and cultivating at Wetherstones, a collection of veronicas which includes specimens of pratically every species of the genus that has been found in Sew Zealand. These two gentlemen were led to commence their publicspirited work by a remark of the late 3lr Peter Barr (the well-known member of the London firm of Barr and Sons), when on a visit to the Dominion some years ago. Mr Barr greatly admired the New Zealand flora on ac-, count of its intensely interesting, though puzzling, variety of form, and asked 3lr Hart why New Zealand people planted their gardens with nothing , but “imported” bushes. “Mr Hart mentioned this _ convei Nation to' Mr Darton,” writes Sir ■ George Fenwick in his interesting booklet ‘'Romance of the Flora of New Zealand,” “and these gentlemen decided to work together to' see what could be done to create a more general interest in our native flora. They felt also fhat if something were not done toon, many varieties of the New Zealand plants would disappear owing to the ravages of fire, and their destruction by sheep and rabbits. Tbe genus selected by them for a trial was the veronica, owing to the fact that it is by far the largest genus oi our flowering plants. ■ They procured a copy of Mr.- T, F. Cheeseman’s ‘Man- , < ual of the New Zealand Flora,’ and . set to work, and the result of their .labours, extending over seven years, is now in evidence at Wetherstones; where almost all the- species mentioned . in the manual can bei seen settled down in their new homes, and growing, with hardly an exception, quite luxuriantly.” . ■ The work of making the collection was a gigantic task, and it is almost impossiDie to convey any idea of the time and labour expended by Messrs Hart and Darton, |in their self-imposed , pilgrimages in search of specimens oi cue plant, and in classifying them When found. The first cuttings for the.... collection were obtained from the' ~ Christchurch Gardens, and others were supplies by the curators of the gardens at Wellington, Timaru, Oamaru, Queenstown, Dunedin, Gore and Invercargill. 31any specimens were unnamed, or wrongly named, but eventually all were i correctly classified.’-Ad-ditions to the qdllection were also made from private gardens, city reserves, and nurseries, and the search for and classifying of the specimens from all parts of the Dominion and the Chatham Islands, cost much exertion and disappointment. “There are now to be seen at .‘■Wetherstones eighty-six species named.; and described in the manual or sub- : sequently in the ‘transactions,’- and over thirty new and yet undescribed, species. The number of 7 varieties is well over 250,” concludes Sir George Fenwick. “Such a valuable and important collection of = what I believe to be the most interesting genus of ouS native plants, I think it will be admitted, should not only be carefully preserved, but should, through industrious propagaton, be made available for the public gai'dens of the Dominion, under some well-arranged scheme of distribution. It is a monument to the energy, perseverance, and public spirit of two men, who, in the face-of much difficulty over a fairly long coin’s© of years, carried to success an enterprise that entitles them to the thanks of all lovers of our native flora throughout the Dominion.”